The Arrow
by reaper with no name
Summary: He would die for her. BB/Rae. Rated for violence and gore.
1. Chapter 1

Beast Boy woke up. What greeted his eyes, however, was not the green of his room but the dull gray of the city. He blinked, bringing the scene into focus, as well as the large fist rapidly approaching his face. His neck snapped to the side, more out of reflex than anything else. The punch missed him by an inch, reducing the concrete wall behind him to rubble. With nothing supporting him, he fell back onto the wreckage. As he weakly lifted his head up, Beast Boy saw two things: Mammoth standing over him, and a large, jagged piece of metal protruding from his chest.

Suddenly, it all came back to him. The Titans had been on a routine mission to stop the Hive Five, but soon after the fight had started, a bomb had gone off; probably Gizmo's handiwork. He had gotten hit by the shrapnel. Then, while he was staring blankly at the injury, Mammoth had hit him. He couldn't remember anything after that, but he figured there probably wasn't much more to it than that, except for him passing out at some point.

But in a moment none of that was going to matter, because he was about to be turned into one of those tofu pancakes he loved to eat. As Mammoth raised his mighty fists for a final blow, a flying car entered the vicinity. Less than a second later the villain was sent sprawling.

Satisfied that Mammoth wouldn't be a problem for a while, Beast Boy's blue-cloaked savior came flying to his side. Now that he wasn't in any immediate danger, Beast Boy took a moment to examine the thing sticking out of his chest. He had many other wounds, of course, but this one was by far the most severe. The rod was long and dark, and jagged like a lightning bolt. It was also in deep, having found its mark right between his rib bones. If it had gone too much further it would probably have pierced his heart. If it wasn't hurting him so much he'd have called it a miracle.

His hand closed around the shrapnel. He was about to pull it out when a pale hand touched his.

"Don't," Raven whispered. "You'll make it worse."

He looked at her questioningly. Or at least he tried to. He probably couldn't manage an expression at this point other than sheer agony. God, did it hurt.

Raven gently moved his hand away and began trying to heal him as best she could. "There's a barb on the end. Like a hook. Or an arrow," she continued. "If you pull it out you'll hurt yourself even more."

Her expression was the same as always, but there was a hint of worry in her voice. That's when Beast Boy noticed the rod that was stuck in Raven's arm. It was identical to the one in his chest, and sure enough, there was a nasty barb on the end. It really was like an arrow. It had gone all the way through the empath's upper arm, and blood was flowing freely from the wound.

"…Ra…ven…" he choked out. After noticing his gaze, she redoubled her efforts.

"It's nothing," she assured him. "Robin's wounds were a lot worse, and yours are worse still."

"…Bu-"

Suddenly her finger was on his lips. "Don't talk," she ordered. "And don't move. I have to stop your bleeding."

At that moment Beast Boy saw it. Mammoth was up. And he was coming fast.

"R-Raven!"

"I told you, don't –"

And that was all she managed before Mammoth slammed into her. As she struck an overturned vehicle, Beast Boy's acute hearing could detect the sounds of bone snapping. It was the worst sound he'd ever heard. Her injured arm appeared to have shattered, and she was holding her ribcage with her good one. She managed to toss Mammoth aside with her powers, but it was a momentary stall. Then she was seized with a violent coughing fit, and crimson fluid issued forth from her lips. She tried to hide her shock, but her eyes gave her away. Then the vomiting came again, and the ground was stained with more red.

As if they had smelled the blood, several Billy's emerged from the main battle and converged on the injured girl, ignoring the bleeding changeling. Worse yet, Mammoth was getting back up. At this rate…

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…She would die.

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This sudden fear seized control of his mind, driving away all other thoughts. Even the searing pain was washed away in the face of this realization. They were going to kill her. Raven was going to die.

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No.

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Instantly the fear evaporated, replaced by conviction. He would not let her die.

Vaguely he could feel the arrow in his chest slip in further as he stood, but he didn't care. He didn't care about the waterfall of blood that was falling onto his shoes. He didn't care about the black veil creeping over the edges of his vision. He didn't care about the blinding pain. His mind was consumed by one all-encompassing thought:

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No.

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He knew how dangerous it was to transform when a foreign object was stuck in his body. The arrow was too close to his heart already; if it went much further it would pierce it. But he didn't care. He had told himself many times that he would die for her at any moment, for any reason. Now he would prove that he hadn't been lying to himself.

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He would die for her.

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It didn't take long to decide on his choice of form. No, "choice" was not the right word. He didn't "choose" any particular form. Instead, he called upon his body and asked. He asked for claws that could rend metal. For jaws that could crush bones. For fangs that could pierce concrete. For scales that could stop bullets. For muscles that could snap trees like twigs. For venom that could paralyze elephants. No, this was not a beast he was wishing for; it was a monster.

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And his wish was granted.

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His eyes were the first things to change. Gone were the gleeful eyes of the prankster. In their place were the dark, predatory orbs of a hunter. The green skin of the vegetarian split into scales of darkened jade barely a shade away from black. The lean musculature of the teenager expanded into the physique of a behemoth. The weak and useless pinky fingers on his hands melted into his ring fingers, and each digit sprouted a hooked claw. He had no illusions about those claws. They existed to tear. To rip. To maim. And if necessary, to kill.

As he changed, he could feel the arrow slipping in further. But he wasn't done yet. His limbs thickened to the size of tree trunks. His face elongated into a wolf's snout, complete with fangs and teeth. A single straight horn grew out of the top of his skull. Poisonous spines sprouted along his backbone, extending all the way down to the end of the reptilian tail he had grown. His human feet morphed into those of a hawk, with curved talons adorning each toe. And from his waist grew two extra arms. They were long and fluid like a snake, and each ended in a single, claw-like stinger reminiscent of a scorpion's tail. And like a scorpion's tail, the stingers were dripping with venom.

The arrow slipped in further, but Beast Boy made no sound. There was no hiss of anger, no bark of warning, no roar of challenge. There was no verbal communication of any kind. There was only action.

The first Billy was run through from behind and only had time to look down in horror at the stinger protruding from his stomach before disappearing back into another Billy. Since they were all one person who existed simultaneously in multiple bodies, they all knew what had happened. Beast Boy saw the second Billy turn and catch a glimpse of him. He promptly removed that Billy's head and let it drop from his clawed hand. Before it even hit the ground, two more Billy's were neutralized. Beast Boy swung his claws wildly, ripping through skin and flesh like paper. Fountains of blood spewed scarlet liquid into the night, mixing and mingling with the almost constant spurts and flows from his own still-open wounds.

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And the arrow slipped in further.

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Billy's were falling as quickly as their bodies were being reabsorbed. Beast Boy vaguely noted that more were coming, diverted from the main battle. It made no difference. His claws raked across the face of another Billy, tearing it off and revealing bloody bone beneath. The Billy's swarmed around him, but like every Billy before them they were either batted away harmlessly or savaged by claw, stinger, tooth, spine, horn, and talon. They simply could not be reabsorbed into one another quickly enough.

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And the arrow slipped in further.

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More Billy's arrived; these ones brandishing whatever makeshift weapons they could get their hands on. Poles, pieces of rubble, and even arrows like the one still in Beast Boy's chest had all found their way into the hands of the Billy's. With these objects they descended upon him, swinging, throwing, stabbing. With a swish of his tail several flying pieces of pavement were deflected to the ground. A lamp pole wielded by several Billy's was caught mid-swing, yanked from their grasp, and thrown back at them. Most of the arrows bounced harmlessly off of Beast Boy's scaled hide. But each one that found purchase drew more blood. Now the black veil obscured the majority of his vision. His movements were becoming sloppy and balance was getting harder to maintain. But his ears were still sharp. He could hear Raven struggling against Mammoth. But her injuries were too great. Her mind was too distracted. She was losing. She needed him. He had to push on.

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And through it all, the arrow slipped in further.

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With one final mighty swing, the last of the Billy's were sent flying into the wall of a nearby building. Now there was only one Billy left, and this one was cowering against a wall. He didn't have the strength left to split any more, and if his body were destroyed like the others, there would be no one to be reabsorbed into. Billy Numerous would be dead. This prospect seemed to terrify the villain. Good.

"Hey, hey! You're the good guy, remember?" the final Billy pleaded as Beast Boy half-walked half-hobbled towards him. "Y-you can't kill me! It's against the…r-rules…Please! I'll do anything! J-just don't kill me!"

The Billy continued to plead until one of Beast Boy's stingers punctured his foot and injected just enough venom to paralyze him for the next hour. Even as a monster, Beast Boy would not kill. Not if he didn't have to.

Now there was only Mammoth. By now Raven could no longer levitate. All the healing she had done earlier must have drained the majority of her power. She was at Mammoth's mercy.

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No.

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Beast Boy forced his legs to move and threw himself against Mammoth. The villain stumbled, but didn't move. Blood loss had finally taken it's toll on Beast Boy. He had no strength left.

Good thing venom didn't rely on strength.

The stinger struck true, pumping paralyzing venom into Mammoth's side. The villain's fist came crashing into Beast Boy's face, but the deed was already done. Beast Boy was smiling in triumph even as he hit the wall. His grin refused to leave even when Mammoth dragged him to his feet by the throat. He was pulling back his fist for a punch now. Then in a dark flash, a black line appeared on the arm choking the changeling. A second later thick red fluid spurted from the new wound. His tendons torn, Mammoth's hand released Beast Boy and he howled in pain before turning to the attacker. But as he stepped towards Raven, the villain's movements became sluggish. Mammoth made it only a few more steps before his legs failed.

Beast Boy was satisfied. The venom had finally done it's job. As his eyes met Raven's, he knew his sacrifice had been worth it. She slowly rose to her feet on shaky legs. His eyes never once left her as he began his final transformation; back to himself. She was approaching him now. He had never known her eyes were capable of expressing such worry.

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And the arrow slipped in further.

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Her footsteps stopped. He could no longer make out how close she was. Her voice sounded far away and was barely above a whisper, but still it betrayed the concern beneath.

"…Beast…Boy?"

Even now, as his senses continued to fail him, the smile had never left his face.

"Raven…"

He took a step forward.

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And the arrow hit home.

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"BEAST BOY!!!"

And he saw no more.

* * *

I hate using those stupid periods like that, but there's apparently no way to add extra spaces. Sorry. The spacing is important to the flow of the story, so nyah.


	2. Chapter 2

Beep.

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Beep.

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Beep.

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It was a calming rhythm, to be sure, but not exactly afterlife material. Then again, maybe it was supposed to be like that "light at the end of the tunnel" thing that's supposed to calm a person down while they're dying. But wait, if he was dying now, wouldn't that mean that he was still sort-of alive? He pondered the question for a few moments until the incessant beeping began to grate on his nerves. It looked like there was only one way to find out.

He opened his eyes. Wait, they had been closed?!

Beast Boy didn't bother looking at his surroundings. He was on autopilot, and his autopilot had other priorities. A million thoughts were running through his head at speeds that would have made Mas y Menos and Kid Flash jealous. However, a few kept resurfacing. Had it all been a dream? Why did it feel so real? Why was the pain so fresh in his mind?

He sat up in his bed. Or at least, that's what his autopilot told him to do. What actually happened was that he got about halfway, then fell back with a yelp when the all-too-familiar pain reared it's ugly head. Yep, it had been real all right. He made a mental note to get a new autopilot; preferably a smarter one.

Now that he knew movement to be a bad idea, he let his eyes wander, and he discovered that he was in the tower infirmary. They must have brought him back after…

His eyes widened and he craned his neck to look at the arrow that had caused all of this. It was gone. Instead, the injured area of his chest was covered in bandages. He slowly moved one of his hands towards them when a sharp voice broke the silence.

"Don't you dare."

Beast Boy's hand froze and he looked over to the source of the sound. His eyes rested on a purple-haired empath inhabiting the bed next to him.

"Or else I'll tie you down," she continued. "I think you've done enough damage to yourself for one week."

He flashed her one of his trademark smiles. "Hey, it was worth it last time."

Her expression was unchanged. "Don't you ever scare me like that again. I almost blew up the tower seventeen times."

He chuckled. "You counted?"

She nodded. "I counted."

As he looked at her, he noticed that the arrow that had been in her arm had also been removed. It brought up another question in his mind.

"Hey, Raven?"

"Yes?"

"How'd you get that arrow thing out of me? Y'know, without tearing me open?"

The corners of her lips curled upwards with just a hint of a knowing smile. He knew what was coming next.

"How did I know you were going to ask that?"

"Because you're psychic?"

"I'm empathic, Beast Boy. Not psychic."

"Same difference."

The not-psychic-but-empathic Raven reached over the side of the bed with her uninjured arm and held up an arrow like the ones that had hit the two of them.

"All of these were identical," she explained. "So I could figure out where the barb began and split it from the rest of the arrow using my powers without having to be able to see it. Then we could remove them safely." To demonstrate, she split off the barb right where it met the arrow, exactly as she had described.

"Oh." As he took in what she had said, he began to wonder how he had survived the damage to his heart. Then he realized that Raven must have healed it. How fitting. That made it twice now she had healed his heart. Of course, it was also ironic, and that caused a grin to infect his features.

"What?" she asked, annoyed.

"Nothing. It's just ironic. I mean, that time Robin broke his arm, you couldn't heal it completely. But here, you've obviously healed my heart. I mean, I'm no doctor, but it seems like that would be a little-"

She cut him off. "Beast Boy, I didn't heal your heart."

"Huh? Then how am I still alive? That arrow…"

"…Was nowhere near your heart."

"It wasn't?"

She looked like she was trying to hold back laughter. "Beast Boy, your heart is on your left side."

"It is?" He laid his hand on his left breast and sure enough, he could feel his heart beating strongly underneath, a far cry from where his panicked mind had thought it to be during the fight. He scratched the back of his head and tried to cover his embarrassment with a grin.

"Heh heh. I…I knew that. I was just…uh…testing you. Yeah, that's it. And you pass! Eh heh heh…Congrats?"

He watched her blank face, a sweat drop rolling down the back of his head. He could practically feel his cheeks getting redder by the second.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Raven's stony expression was cracked open by a genuine laugh. It was the best thing he had ever heard in his life. It was a pity that the chair toppling over had to cut it short.

All the light-heartedness had left the room now, and Raven's voice took on an air of concern, guilt, and curiosity when she spoke.

"So…You thought that you were…Dying?"

He nodded slowly, never taking his eyes off hers.

"So then…Why did you keep going? If you thought it was going to kill you…Why did you keep fighting?"

"It's like I said before, Rae; it was worth it."

"Nothing is worth your life, Beast Boy."

"Yours is."

Her eyes said she was in shock, but her lips said nothing. He refused to break her gaze. Not this time. Not after all this. For all he knew, he might never get another chance. But he had no idea what to do next.

"Beast Boy?"

"Yeah?"

Her voice was barely above a whisper now. "Did you mean that?"

"More than you'll ever know."

Her eyes dropped to the floor; in stark contrast to how their staring contests usually ended. Her cheeks were aflame, and he imagined his were too. She seemed to suddenly notice that she was still holding the arrow from before. She placed it on the nightstand between them, but her hand lingered afterward, as if she was carefully contemplating whether or not she should move it. Her eyes supported the theory.

Beast Boy still had no clue what he should do, but he couldn't just do nothing and let the moment slip away as he had done so many times before. He had to act. So, he decided to wing it and simply placed his hand on hers. His eyes fixated themselves on the two hands, for he was far too scared to look her in the eyes right now. He prayed to whatever deity watched over superheroes for Raven to not freak out. To his great delight, she didn't. Instead, she turned her hand so that she could grip his. Filled with newfound courage, his eyes rose to meet hers, and her violet orbs soon returned his gaze. He gave her a warm smile, and she responded to it with one of her own.

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And for each of them, the arrow slipped in further.


End file.
